Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
Jeremiah 1:5 NIV
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.
This verse is often used in debates about abortion and God’s election. But more significant than either of those issues is what it says to us about God. Before I was even conceived, God knew me. He did not just know about me. He knew me in a personal way. The Hebrew word translated as “knew” is the same word used in Genesis 4:1, where Adam “made love” to his wife.
I do not mean to suggest that I had existed prior to my conception. But God had an intimate knowledge of me and who I would become long before I was conceived in my mother’s womb. His knowledge of me is not something that he gains as he watches me grow and live. But he knows everything there is to know about me. And did even before I came to exist. And he still loves me. That boggles my mind.
Unlike Jeremiah, God did not set me apart and appoint me to be a prophet to the nations. But I believe he has set me apart for service within his kingdom. I am not just a nameless face in the crowd. God intimately knows me. And he knows best where and how to use me.
And that is not just true of me. It is true of all those who are a part of the kingdom of God. We are each called and equipped to serve. None of us are bench warmers. We all have a role to play in the work of the kingdom. A role that the one who knows us best has given to us.
